Source: Niu playing the piano
Author: Niu plays the piano
This neighboring country has staged two world-class legends at once, amazing legends.
That neighboring country is Malaysia.
The first legend, 97-year-old Mahathir.
Simply ask, if you were 97 years old, what else would you like to do?
If you can live to be 97 years old, you should have seen through life a long time ago, and many people's answer may be to have a grandson and enjoy your old age in peace. Of course, the vast majority of people in this world will not live to be 97 years old.
But 97-year-old Mahathir is still running for parliament; The ultimate goal, of course, is to compete for the prime minister's throne. Although he has been the prime minister of Malaysia many times, he is still unwilling to accept old age.
So, in this world, where is there to lie flat? The 97-year-old Mahathir is still fighting like this, what reason do we have not to work hard?
But that's not the point of my article, because there is another person, this time completely overshadowing Mahathir, Anwar, who has just been sworn in as Prime Minister of Malaysia.
He is the second legend.
Because his life experience is more ups and downs than "three ups and three downs".
Because more than 20 years ago, I remember writing about him. At that time, the Prime Minister of Malaysia was still Mahathir, he was Mahathir's most proud protégé, and he became Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister in 1993.
In a word, Anwar is Mahathir's successor, and he is a particularly appreciated successor.
But politics is relentless. When the Asian financial crisis broke out in 1997, Malaysia was also in crisis, and Mahathir and Anwar clashed fiercely over how to save the economy.
In the eyes of the Western media, Anwar, who was young and powerful at that time, tried to take over power in advance, which naturally seriously threatened Mahathir, so the latter took decisive measures.
In September 1998, Mahathir sent a letter of resignation to Anwar's residence and asked him to sign it. Anwar refused, and tore up the documents. That night, Anwar was dismissed from all positions in the government and the party (UMNO), and he was subsequently charged with ten counts including leaking state secrets, embezzlement, and sodomy.
At that time, I had just joined the work, and I was really shocked by the sodomy charge, but I did not expect that the Malaysian high-level was still in this tune, and I did not expect that the successor Mahathir would be so ruthless.
If nothing else, such a charge would not only be ruined, but also mean that Anwar's political future may come to an end.
He was thrown into prison and began his long prison life.
In 2003, Mahathir retired; Anwar was released from prison in 2004.
While in prison, Anwar's wife, Daifu, went on a campaign to maintain her husband's influence. In the 2008 Malaysian general election, Anwar came out again. Asked at the time about Anwar's possibility of becoming the next prime minister, the retired Mahathir replied coldly: "He could be a good Israeli prime minister." ”
But as a result, it has rewritten Malaysian politics. Anwar not only cleared his humiliation, but his PKR rose to become the largest opposition party in Malaysia.
But bad luck once again awaits Anwar. In 2015, he was again accused of sodomy by his personal assistant. The scandal once again shocked Malaysia, and Anwar was eventually sentenced to another 5 years in prison and disqualified from parliament.
If you can't become a parliamentarian, you definitely can't become a prime minister.
At this time, Malaysian politics has undergone earth-shaking changes.
Mahathir had been idle for many years, falling out with then-Prime Minister Najib and parting ways with the ruling UMNO; A new opposition coalition of Pakatan Harapan was born, electing Anwar, who was imprisoned, as de facto leader.
The enemy of an enemy is a friend. Mahathir and Anwar, who fought to the death, miraculously joined hands to form a political alliance 20 years later.
When they met and smiled, their sideburns were pale.
"Father and son" joined hands again, and the power was indeed extraordinary. In the 2018 general election, Pakatan Harapan defeated Barisan Nasional (UMNO) in the general election, which was the first time since the establishment of Malaysia that there was a rotation of political parties.
Mahathir and Anwar reached a "gentleman's agreement": 92-year-old Mahathir, from 2018 to 2020, first served as prime minister for two years; After 2020, it will be handed over to the younger Anwar. Mahathir also asked Malaysia's head of state to pardon Anwar, whose sodomy charges were dropped.
Anwar is only one step away from the prime minister's throne. But plans always fail to keep up with change.
In 2020, Mahathir, who had been prime minister for two years, refused to give way to Anwar. In Anwar's party, he was bizarrely accused of sodomy, and this is the third time he has been accused of sodomy.
Each time, of course, Anwar angrily dismissed it as a political conspiracy.
Malaysian politics is entering a period of unprecedented chaos. The ruling PH also split and Mahathir had to step down. Muhyiddin, who broke away from PH, took the opportunity to unite BN and become the prime minister of Malaysia. But his throne did not sit long, and there were various battles within the governing coalition, and Malaysia had to hold an early general election.
In the final election result, Anwar's Pakatan Harapan won 82 seats; Muhiddin's National Alliance won 73 seats, but they were far from the 112 seats held by the formation of the cabinet, which was also the first time in Malaysia's history that there was a "hanging parliament" with no majority of the party.
What to do?
In the end, the Malaysian head of state clapped and Anwar formed the cabinet.
On 24 November, Anwar was sworn in. From the perspective of cabinet composition, Anwar's Pakatan Harapan and UMNO came together again and began to form a joint cabinet.
Another meeting with a smile and a vendetta.
Finally, what to see?
These are all Malaysia's internal affairs, so I will say two personal feelings.
First, politics is really changing.
Especially the grudges and grudges in it are particularly embarrassing.
I don't know if you can see it clearly.
Anwar, once UMNO's second-in-command, was purged from UMNO more than 20 years ago by Mahathir and then imprisoned. While in prison, he founded Pakatan Harapan and later joined forces with Mahathir, who fell out with UMNO, to overthrow UMNO. Mahathir, who agreed to step aside as prime minister for two years, refused to step aside to Anwar when it expired, and both were subsequently overthrown. Then came the new elections, Anwar united with UMNO again, and this time, finally became prime minister...
It is indeed dazzling, in the meantime, it is the sodomy accusation again and again, and it is the combination of meeting and laughing.
There are no eternal friends and no eternal enemies, but there are eternal interests.
It is worth mentioning that Mahathir, who still dreams of a comeback, formed the Fatherland Fighter Party. But I don't want to be in this election, the more than 100 candidates he nominated, including himself, are wiped out, and none of them are elected. This is the result when you are old. Perhaps, the 97-year-old Mahathir will finally bid farewell to politics this time.
Second, it's definitely a world-class legend.
Mahathir, definitely a legend.
Not only his 97-year-old age and ambition, but also his frequent lashing out at the West.
He has no shortage of grievances and grievances with China, but he has also publicly fought for China. He said: "The West must accept that Eastern countries can now produce competitive products and should not threaten commercial rivals.
Regarding relations with China and the West, in an interview, Mahathir also made a point from a historical perspective:
I have been asked in many places what you think of China, and are you afraid of China. I said, there is nothing terrible about China, we have almost 2,000 years of relations with China, China has never come to conquer us, but two years after the arrival of the Europeans (Westerners), they conquered us, so we are more afraid of Europeans (Western) than China.
Therefore, Mahathir, the oldest qualification in Southeast Asia, has always been a thorn in the United States.
Now, Malaysia has come an equally legendary Anwar.
Falling from the peak again and again, stubbornly rising from the ruins again and again, while enduring the unbearable humiliation of many people, Anwar is definitely also an extraordinary figure.
Looking around the world today, there are absolutely few politicians like him who have had a few ups and downs.
But that's politics. Politics is jaw-dropping and legendary. Whether the 75-year-old Anwar can create a new legend depends on his next level of governance.
Bless Malaysia.
Column editor-in-chief: Gu Wanquan Text editor: Song Hui Title image source: Xinhua News Agency Photo editor: Xu Jiamin
Source: Author: Niu Playing the Piano